Saturday, September 22, 2012

Farsh

This is the first time I’m writing in this blog outside of
Iran. Finally I got my student visa to study a 4 year program here at NHTV University
in the Netherlands. To be honest before coming here I was nervous about going to another country with a completely different culture. but now I'm happy of my decision to come here. however I miss my family and I'm not sure when I can meet them again but with the help of Skype that's ok at least for a while.

Here at NHTV we do lot's of team works which really help me to improve my communication skills. also we need to do so many presentations here. these are exactly what I need.

When I was in Iran few months ago I had a big problem which I was not able to solve it myself. The problem was that I was not able to pay money for the school. I don't know if I have the permission to tell who helped me. anybody involved with videogames know him. What he did for me is unbelievable.

these days iran's economy is facing big troubles. our currency, Rial is under half its value a year ago. that's because of what U.S is doing with us. I mean they are making big troubles for Iranian people not government. U.S sanctions make troubles only for people, for students, for families but not government.

this blog is about games and I don't know why I am writing about politics in it! actually I wanted to write about my new game called Farsh which means Carpet in persian. It's a puzzle game wehre you solve puzzles using rolling and unrolling the Carpet. I made it in my free time during last two weeks.

I'd like to give special thanks to Moslem Rasuli who made the great music for the game. He is one of the most talented persons I have ever met.

Amazeing I love it, There seems to be no quit menu? also the first level could use a one more line of tutorial, it took me to long to figure out that I could roll the carpet up from the other side once its fully rolled out. After that i think its ok to let people puzzle it out.

Would you consider a Linux version of the game? It's getting tiring being treated like a third class computer citizen sometimes when there's no reason why games like this can't be built using a cross-platform API.

you are AMAZING! I am truly blown away by your creative mind and ability to pull an abundance of innovation from every direction. I've never seen this much talent and variety from a big established company, let alone a little indie developer! You should be so proud of yourself! I hope you make it far! I hope farsh ends up being the next angry birds! I wish I could donate but I don't have a credit card, I promise I'll buy the crap out of your game when it's released on iOS though, and I'll buy all In app purchases too! You're amazing! <3 Martina

Hey Mahdi, how is Farsh for iOS going? I hope all is going well! It would be a perfect time to release just before the holidays! Lots of iTunes cards get given as Christmas gifts, people will be looking for something cool to buy, and farsh will be on the front page of the AppStore, i assume. :) can't wait to play this work of art ^_^ I hope you have a nice holiday sweetie. :) martina

If you need a beta tester, let me know,if you're going through test flight I have an account. I know this game will be a huge hit. You have such a brilliant mind! You should make a FB or twitter account for the game, or for your company :) it's good to build up a fanbase.. I'm sure you'll make alot of iOS fans once farsh is released!

So Iran ist not the arabic world? Sorry didn´t want to insult you. Really love your game, one small thing... maybe you should add something like a level select screen, because if by accident you press "start" instead of "continue" you start at level 1 (lost all my progress, now back at level 15, how many are there?).Greetings from Germany

hi. i downloaded farsh and played...and want to say...so nice...realy so nice...music ...graphic..methode of game .all and all is good and full of iranian soulful.i,m iranian too and i prode to have a compatriot like you.wish you luck always.thank for your attractive game.

Having read this post a couple of days ago, your writing inspired me to share your story with my students (6th grade USA). Being a gamer myself, I decided I'd also have my students be "game testers" for you. Below is their feedback. We wish you luck with your school and career endeavors.

I think your game is AMAZING. The graphics and music fit the game and I like how you let the gamer look at different angles in the game. Using a persian rug is a very interesting first person player. A level select would be nice.

I really really like this game. I love the graphics and the music. The whole idea of the game is great. The only thing that I would change is that the carpet could fall off of the blocks, to make it a little bit more challenging. Overall an awesome game.

I really liked the graphics of your game they were awesome! The levels sometimes were hard to pass but after all I liked that it was a strategy game! I also liked that the game was based off of a story! (your mom weaving the rugs) Awesome game Mahdi!

Your game was very interesting. I liked that you put some tough spots in the levels. The game really makes you think about what your next move will be. Well done. This game reminds me about a game on cool math games called Bloxors. That game is really fun as well.

I enjoyed your game, liked how you have to think about strategy. It can be a challenge on some levels, the game is creative how you have to move and unroll in certain ways. Also how you can move positions change direction.

I loved your game!! I haven't finished yet, but I love the strategizing you have to do in your head in order to finish the game. This game at first reminded me of Bloxorz from cool-math-games.com but I loved the carpet interpretation.

Mahdi, I loved the game but to make it better you might want to add another control. Instead of unrolling it when moving backwards you should have to hit R or something. I like how you made the game though it makes me think. :)

I really liked your game. It was very challenging but a really good game. The design was great, I really liked how you had to roll the rugs around to move. If I were you I would make a level select option, so you can go back to a different level, maybe to remember how to do something. All in all, this is a great game.

I have seen most of your games you have posted on this blog. Pretty nice how you are using Unity and XNA. I have designed some basic games on unity, but one as awesome as yours. I have never seen a game with the spark of the idea was from the rugs that your mother wove. I like how some of the levels worked, and this game would of been pretty easy if it wasn't for those GREEN TILES. One wrong and your gonna press "R". Very simple, but very original. I would love to see an 2nd floor. What I mean is, If you stand on, Lets call a yellow block and press "SPACE" You will lift the yellow block and any other block your had your carpet on. A power-up system would be very nice, and just for ideas, maybe one that when you press space you change the block you where standing on to a red block, or for a limited time, have a rug that is 8 blocks long, not 4.

This game is a seed, that of treated right, will grow up to a great indie game that will maybe make you memorable, and people would look up to you, like I do now. Thank you for reading this.

I liked your game it was really fun, it definitely a puzzling game and I had a really hard time doing it. But it was cool and I cant wait to see what games you make when you hopefully become a game designer If you do your probably going to get an award for best puzzle game designer in the world! Good Luck!

Dear Mahdi,Great concept, great game. I enjoyed the game mechanics so much and the soundtrack was just superb. It left me very relaxed and in a great mood.I was playing the desktop version of the game and after reaching a certain level was prompted to purchase the app on android or iOS to unlock more levels. I didn't find the app on android, and I currently don't own any iOS devices. Is there any way to unlock more levels on the desktop version?Also, I was looking to try Engare but could not find a link to download the game. Is it available for play?

About

My name is Mahdi Bahrami, I'm 1̶7̶ 1̶8̶ 1̶9̶ 2̶0̶ 21 years old and from Iran. I like designing new game mechanics and experimental games. Here I write about my games and prototypes. My email address is: medi.bahrami@gmail.com Please feel free to contact me.